


Broken Eyes and Breaking Time

by alys_thewilted



Category: Life Is Strange
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-03 14:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14570784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alys_thewilted/pseuds/alys_thewilted
Summary: Max and Chloe thought the past was finally behind them- or , at least as "behind them" as it could be. Until an old friend shows up and shares some information that could change the entire course of their lives. Max, being Max, wants to change things for the better- by any means necessary... but will she be able to, this time?





	1. Chapter 1

A blue-haired punk was leaning over a wooden railing on the side of a road, holding out a camera and laughing. Behind her, a freckled girl held her by the torso, pointing into the horizon with one arm.

Max giggled shrilly, pitch changing as they teetered about the edge of the plank. “ No, Chloe! Over there, you dork!!”

Chloe swatted blindly at Max, trying to follow her finger as she struggled to catch her breath. “I can’t,” she gasped, tears of laughter dampening her eyes, “We’re tilting too much!”

“Take the photo or I’m going to drop you,” Max threatened, the attempted hostility of her words masked by her chuckles and squeals.

“You wouldn’t!”

The camera flashed anyways, the punk reaching forward as Max let out a sigh of relief, barely catching the released polaroid between two fingers. The two teens collapsed away from the fence and onto the grass, in a knot of pitchy exclamations and hushed curses. Max scooted closer to Chloe, wrapping her arms and legs around her and burrowing her face into fading blue locks.

Chloe snorted. “C’mon, Super-Max. We gotta compare the pictures.”

Max whined, voice muffled as she spoke. “ Why can’t we just lay here. On the soft grass. Togetherrrr.”

The punk stroked her hair softly. “As tempting as that is, you’re the one that wanted to teach me photography in the first place. Another concern of mine- we’re on the bank of grass beside a highway. I know you can rewind and all that jazz, but still. Now let go of me and let me work.”

Max pouted but pried herself away from Chloe, reluctantly. She hadn’t wanted to leave Chloe’s side since they drove out of.. Arcadia. Even a gentle hand on her thigh calmed her nerves. And she was feeling a bit jumpy right about now- what, with the photography and all. She still loved it, of course, it just.. brought back unwanted memories sometimes.

Chloe had gotten up and headed to the bed of her lucky ol’ truck, probably to examine the dozens of polaroids laid out beside each other. Max decided to stay on the ground for a bit and let the remaining effects of her punk’s touch linger, closing her eyes and imagining one of her favorite nights they’d spent together...

The two girls were lying in the bed of the truck, looking up at the starry sky and observing the moon. They’d been unusually quiet since.. the sacrifice, and neither had wanted to bring it up. So they both sat there, watching the sky intently as if they expected it to break open and suck up all the problems they’d faced, every issue they’d been exposed to- and there’d been quite a lot.

What could’ve been hours later, Chloe finally spoke. Not her usual few mutters or sound effects, but full sentences, just spewing out of her all of a sudden. “The moon looks gorgeous in a really weird way, tonight.” Max sat up and looked at her. “ It looks like it feels cold. That cold you feel in your bones but not on your skin. Or that cold you feel when you breathe in, and it hits your nose and your throat and just chills your lungs and makes you shiver but in the best possible way. My inability to take a photo right now kills me.”

Current Max smiled thinking about it. That was the moment she’d had the idea to teach the inexperienced punk to take some bomb pictures. She didn’t mention her idea at the time- not only was the timing incredibly off, but she hadn’t touched her camera in days. Just looking at it sent chills of crippling anxiety down her spine. She would look at the lens and be tugged through time, straight back into those restraints, right next to Victoria and the impending doom that would soon consume the both of them.

Max had smiled, after Chloe spoke. “ And you say you don’t have talent.”

Blue hair framed a sheepish grin as it developed. And just that smile reminded Max of all the people who wouldn’t be able to smile like that anymore. Because of her. Almost instantly, her mood had changed. Given, she wasn’t exactly happy to begin with, but she wasn’t sad either. And then a wave of devastation just decided then was the right time to crash on top of her and any ounce of not-sad she’d had left.

It took Chloe a few moments to realize why Max was looking so admantly at her hands, intertwined in her lap. And then she saw the glint of the moonlight, bouncing off the salt rivers flowing down her cheeks.

“Max? You alright?”

She didn't reply, instead drawing her knees to her chest and hiding her face. Her shoulders bounced with her attempt to conceal the sobs that were rattling her ribcage in a desperate effort to make themselves known.

“Fuck. You’re not alright.” Chloe sat there for a moment, staring at her hands, palms up. Max was crying. Sobbing, even. This was the first time she’d realized that Max wasn’t okay and she hadn’t been for a while.

Chloe scolded herself, heat rising to her cheeks as she called herself out on her selfishness. Sure, she’d lost her parents, but Max? Max had watched her die over and over, been kidnapped by Jeffershit, abused, and.. basically killed an entire town. And Chloe had just sat there silently, never offering a single bit of reassurance, too busy obsessing over the stepfather she’d swore she’d never even pay a second thought to. And now she was unprepared. Did Max even want to be touched?

Chloe was reminded of the moment over the body of a girl she’d once known, with blonde hair and soft skin and kind eyes with a fierceness behind them. That girl was.. well, she was gone. And Max had been the one to hold her as she sobbed and remembered the play she was forced to partake in and the kiss she’d shared on the street and the two-by-four wooden plank that saved her life.

Now it was Chloe’s turn to offer support. She’d scooted closer to Max, taking caution, watching for tells that the affection wasn’t appreciated. There were none, so Chloe wrapped her arms around the brunette and pushed her face into the crook between her shoulder and neck.

Max tensed at first. She had been unfamiliar and didn’t know whether this was a pity touch, or just full of affection. She decided she didn’t care. And so she fell into the punk’s arms and wept anyways. And, fuck, did it feel good. She clenched Chloe’s shirt in her fists and tugged, pulling her closer. Tears began to fall down Chloe’s cheeks as Max winced from the intensity of her own sobs.

Max kept her knees against her chest, as if she was holding herself together. She tensed and cried and broke in her friend’s arms, though she still doesn’t know whether she was okay with it, or whether she was too shattered to care.

Chloe spoke into Max’s skin softly. “ It’s okay, it’s alright.”

 

The brunette’s head shot up, taking Chloe’s with it. “ It’s anything but okay, and it’s anything but alright! I killed people, Chloe! Me!”

“ You didn’t kill anyone. But you did save me.”

Max thought about that for a moment and considered arguing with Chloe’s first statement. She decided against it. Chloe always won these types of arguments.

“If it wasn’t for you, Max, I’d be dead. But I’m not. I’m here, and you’re here. We’re together again. Long Max Silver and Captain Bluebeard, reunited at last.”

Max held her head in her hands. “And here I am, whining while we should be making the best of it.”

Chloe nuzzled her cheek. “ Thus giving me an excuse to hold you again.”

“ We haven’t really talked much lately, have we.”

 

“Not exactly,” Chloe replied carefully, “but we can change that, now.” Max offered a questioning glance. “ We’ve both been focusing on the negative,” the punk continued. “That’s no help. So.. maybe.. actually, I’m not sure.”

 

“Spit it out, Price.” Max smiled slightly through the still falling tears. The punk rarely stepped outside of her ‘I don’t give a fuck’ limits, but when she did, it was adorable.

Chloe rubbed the back of her neck, lifting an arm away. Max felt the absence but only hoped the contact would come back, not wanting to seem so pushy. “Back when I.. actually went to my therapist lady- you know, the one I hated with a passion and always ranted about during our.. few conversations, she sometimes.. well, she-”

 

“What are you so nervous about?” Max asked softly, adjusting positions so she was sitting on her knees, facing the other girl.

“I just don’t want to say something will work, and then have it fail.” Chloe was looking at her lap, an emotion Max couldn’t seem to read radiating from her.

 

She took the punk’s hands in her’s. “Hey.. it’s worth a shot. Lay it down. If it helps, I’ll be forever grateful.”

Chloe looked up, carefully. Current Max wanted to wince just thinking about the expression on Chloe’s face. She had looked like a puppy, who’d done wrong over and over but still just.. couldn’t get it right. Maybe that’s how she felt as she spoke. “ And if it doesn’t?”

“I’ll be forever grateful.” Max squeezed her hands briefly. “C’mon.”

“My therapist. She knew I struggled when I focused on.. all of the bad things. So she told me that when they started to flood up, I had to think positive. Which, apparently, is hard to just do- something younger me was too absent minded to predict. So, when I explained it to her, she told me to list out a number of positive things.”

Max considered that for a second. “How many things?”

“Given the.. circumstances, ten. But if that’s too many for you, we can-”

 

Max held up one finger. “ You’re alive.” With each, carefully thought statement, Max had raised another digit. “ You’re unharmed. We’re together. The truck is okay. We have enough money from Blackwells handy-dandy handicap fund to get through at least three months.” She hid an amused smile. That had been fun to say. “ This whole thing finally gives us a chance to explore- be free like you’ve always wanted. My.. my camera is safe. Maybe we can finally get a doggy. Maybe this gives us an opportunity to grow.. Closer, make up for the years that I fucked up.”

Chloe smiled softly as she spoke. “ That’s nine.”

Max had thought hard, chewing on the inside of her lip, avoiding the punk’s gaze. She couldn’t think of anything else. There was nothing else positive- she would’ve said the fact that she was unharmed, herself, but.. was that entirely all that good?

Chloe searched for Max’s gaze and her face fell. “Oh.. alright. We can stick with nine, if you can’t think of anything else.”

“No.. there’s.. there’s something.” She hoped.

“Max, really, if-”

And, without giving it a second thought, Max anchored her hands on the sides of Chloe’s face and brought her forehead against hers. Chloe had widened her eyes, a noise of surprise escaping as she did so, though she grew comfortable in a matter of seconds.

Max closed her eyes, hands shaking against the punk’s soft skin. “I love you.” And with those three words, she brought her chin forward and pressed their lips to meet, every so carefully. It wasn’t forceful- in fact, Chloe could only really feel the softness of Max’s lips if she focused. But boy, was she focusing.

Though her breath had audibly caught in her throat while Max advanced, the second their lips touched, she could breathe again. Unsure of what to do with her hands, she cautiously left them at her sides. Max smiled lightly, lingering for a moment before pulling back and opening her eyes again, fingers still resting over Chloe’s cheeks.

Chloe grinned awkwardly. “ I-I, um.. I love you too, Max.”

Max frowned a bit. “ What’s wrong?”

The other girl shook her head, smiling still. “ Nothing. I’d just always pictured myself making the first move.” And not like this, she’d wanted to add. But she never did- Max had started to rub her thumbs across her skin. Perfectly executed distraction.

The brunette’s lips lifted up at the corners. “ Well, you can always go for it now. No one has to know I was first.”

Chloe sat still for a moment before closing the distance, the kiss firmer and more certain. She was proud of herself for it, anchoring her hands at Max’s waist and tilting her head accordingly. She let herself go, melt into the contact. This is what she’d needed. This is what both of them needed. This kiss turned the small thread holding them together into a thick rope. This kiss didn’t fix everything, but it certainly pushed them in that direction; this they both knew.

Minutes later, they pulled away, lips still feeling the aftershock of the unplanned connections. Chloe smirked widely and brought her lips close to Max’s ear. “And for the record, Freckles.. I’m the better kisser.”

And ‘freckles’ didn’t disagree.

***

“Aye, Maximus? You alright?”

Max’s head shot up, the memories falling away. “Hmm?”

Chloe chuckled. “I’ve been calling you for, like, then straight minutes.” She bounced up and down on the bed of the truck. “I was starting to worry you got stuck in time again.” A nervous laugh.

Max stood carefully and brushed herself off, pittering to the truck beside the other teen. “Not this time. Just memories.” She nuzzled Chloe carefully.

“Good ones?”

She nodded. “Definitely.”

Chloe turned her head carefully, lips hovering just over the brunette’s. “Am I correct to assume they involve me?”

Max resisted the urge to push closer as she nodded. They stayed close for a second before Chloe smiled darkly and pulled back.

Max pouted. “Heyyyy,” she whined. “You pulled away too early.”

Chloe grinned wider. “No, I’m just focused. C’mon. Photographs.” She nodded toward the spread out polaroids. She picked a pile up and threw it back down after observation. “These are shit.”

Max picked a few up with careful hands and eyed each one silently. This one; too bright, almost blinding when you looked at it- the sun caught the camera at a weird angle. That one; shading was alright but the focal point wasn’t evident. The next one, the depth of field between a stop-sign and the lense itself wasn’t vast enough.

She was growing exasperated when she noticed a glint under the wheel of the pickup. She hopped off and pittered toward it, picking the picture up with both hands and staring at it. She smiled lightly to herself. This was the one.

This photo was the one Chloe had taken while she leaned over the wooden railing, Max clutching her cautiously in fear that, somehow, she might fall. They’d leaned forward deeply just as the photograph was taken, the trees and water and setting sun in the background blurring perfectly, lines of motion trailing behind the various objects captured in time.

She poked Chloe, who was still invested in trying to find the best of the pictures on the truck. “Found it.”

` Chloe turned and took the picture, looking at it and then grinning to herself. “Hey, this isn’t half bad.”

Max swatted at her. “This is awesome! I mean, look at it! The way the light bounces off the water…”

Chloe watched her brunette as she spewed various terms and observations. She would’ve been listening if she wasn’t so focused on her hair. The perfect shade of chestnut brown, sun beaming down at it, shining brightly. Or the way she scrunched up her nose when she was talking about something she was passionate about- Max’d never noticed it, either. It just… happened. Chloe smiled a bit, drowning herself in the way Max’s lips moved when she spoke, soft and lush and perfectly kissable.

She leaned forward ever so slightly and brushed her lips against the girl’s forehead. Her words halted. Another kiss, this time dusting over the tip of her nose, lips involuntarily turning upward. And finally….

Their lips would’ve touched. If a honking car hadn’t scared the actual shit out of the both of them. Chloe bounced back and turned toward the road, expecting to see a car whizzing by, ready to scold the driver she would probably never meet again. But when her gaze hit the pavement, the street was unusually bare. No screeching tires or roaring engines or flashing metal. She turned her head, face falling when she noticed the old Toyota parked behind them. Max followed her gaze, curious at the mood change.

“What’s up?” Max asked, debating where to turn her attention.

She didn’t get an answer before the Toyota’s door opened. A fair woman stepped out, dusty blonde hair resting just below her shoulders. Her thin-strapped shirt showed off her tattoos- one of an orange butterfly, seemingly a monarch, the other a bundle of colourful flowers taking up her entire right arm. Her cheekbones were gaunt, cheeks themselves missing the healthy glow and blush that belonged. The woman took a tired drag from the cigarette she was holding and threw it to the ground, stomping it out.

Chloe covered her mouth and pulled away from Max, stepping off of the truck and onto the gravel.

Max could hear how irregular her punk’s breathing was as she jumped up to meet her side. “Chloe?” No reply.

The woman didn’t look glad to be there, but she didn’t look tormented, either. Her expression, while full of.. wonder, maybe, was tired. Exhausted from years of wear and tear, decades of experience in things more bad than good. The closer she got, the more evident the shine in her eyes was. Max had only seen a shine like that once. A picture. On a poster.

Her lips parted as her words stopped mid in her throat.. Rachel?

Chloe spoke boldly, her voice breaking into thousands as the noises left her mouth. “Sera?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Sera?”

 

Max latched onto Chloe’s arm and didn't move. “Who’s that?”

 

Chloe continued to speak as if Max never had opened her mouth. “Are you alright? What are you doing here?”

 

The woman-  _ Sera _ \- didn’t reply until she stood right in front of them. “ I’ve been better. I came to see you two.”

 

“Us two?” Chloe asked, obviously fighting to hold emotion behind the walls in her voice.. “Are you sure we’re the two you wanted to see? Because it’s been a year and you haven’t even tried to talk to me about what happened. Not once.” She shrugged Max away. 

 

Max looked between the both of them, but stepped back as she spoke. “Who’s Sera?”

 

Again, she was disregarded when Sera replied, slowly. “ This isn’t what I came here to talk about.”

 

“Well it’s what we should be talking about. Because you haven’t shown  _ any _ sympathy. I thought you gave a shit, the letter convinced both of us, but you just fucking forgot about her!”

 

The woman’s volume never raised, though her tone constricted. “I didn’t forget about her, Chloe Price. She--”

“No. No, you don’t get to walk in here and act like my girlfriend, your  _ daughter _ , isn’t missing! Gone! Dead!!” She seemed to shatter with the last word. And then Max understood. She was right. Rachel. But.. how? This wasn’t Rose Amber. 

 

Max hid a wince when Chloe mentioned their relationship. It had always made her jealous, in a way. Not their relationship exactly, but Rachel’s ability to make Chloe… happy when she was in Seattle. When she just completely fucked over the friendship they once had. She continuously felt lucky at being able to salvage as much of it as she had. 

 

“You told her you cared and then completely ignored the fact that she was taken from you by something you caused!!”

 

Sera’s stone-cold expression flickered, a look of utter hurt resonating for only seconds.   “ Thank you, sincerely, for the reminder.”

 

Max sensed hostility, practically radiating from Chloe’s pores. She considered lunging forward and holding her still. She didn’t. Instead, she stood, frozen in place, watching this mini-disaster unfold. 

 

“No fucking problem. Looks like you needed it.”

 

“Can we please worry about what I came here to worry about? There will be time for this argument later.”

 

Chloe’s voice rose to a shout. “No, Sera!! The time to worry about this was fucking months ago!!” Tears leaked from her eyes, red tracks marking up her cheeks. “Months, and you didn’t do a fucking  _ thing _ !!” Sera’s mouth opened to speak, but the girl interrupted before she could. “Fuck you.”

Chloe backed up and ran toward the truck, hopping in and revved the engine. Max didn’t move, but Chloe probably wasn’t going to wait for her, anyways. She sped off moments later, closing the door against the speeding wind. Not only did ole’ TWN PKS kick up a bunch of dirt, but the dozens of polaroids flew from the bed of the truck where they had laid only minutes before. The wind carried them to the railing, and directly over it, slowly fluttering to the water below. 

 

Max scrambled to grab them, scuffing up her jeans and her sweater in her desperate act to retrieve them. She clamped her hand around one, just in time. It crinkled as she folded her palms over it, falling directly onto her face afterward, as she had used both hands. 

 

She sat upright, legs crossed. Sneezed. Stood, then brushed herself off. All the while, Sera stayed in place and watched. Not a single comment, nor small noise. Max tried to stop the heat rising to her cheeks, hinting pathetic embarrassment, but of course, she couldn’t. She opened her hand to see which photo she’d caught, and had to hide a reflexive smile when she saw it was Chloe’s best one. 

 

She shoved it into her pocket and stood taller, regarding Sera with a strong tilt of her head. “ I should probably get going.”

 

The woman spoke softly. “She left with the truck.”

 

Max nodded. “Yeah, and she also trashed all of these pictures.” Not purposefully, but she did. They hadn’t been the best, but they were Chloe’s. And she loved them for that. And now they were floating on the surface-waves below. “I don’t know what you want with either of us, but you’re stressing her out. I’d like to avoi--”

 

“Rewind, Maxine.”

 

The brunette had to stop herself from choking. “Excuse me?”

 

“I know what you can do. I know about the storm. I know that you think it was you. Don’t ask me to explain- these are all conversations we will have in great time. As selfish as this sounds, I didn’t come back for Chloe. I knew she needed to deal with this herself, or with someone who could help. That someone was you.” She shakes her head, as if clearing her mind. “I’m getting off track. I came to talk to you.”

 

Max stumbled backward, cautiously. “We’ll we talked. I’ve got to--”

Sera raised a hand, palm up. “Go back. To when she drove off.”

 

Max stopped and thought for a second. What harm could it do? Wait, that’s a stupid question. But if Sera knew in the first place.. why not? What if it was something important? She couldn’t put another person in danger. Not again. Even if others normally didn’t even.. remember what happened before her rewinds.. 

 

“Fine,” she said, holding a shaky hand up. Her hair blew across her face-- the breeze seemed to have picked up sometime during the confrontation between the two of them. “But only to when she left, and only once. You give me the creeps.”

 

Sera slowly dropped her hand. “Good.”

 

The trees stilled as Max began to focus, everything beginning to blur around her. She hadn’t done this in a while, and she could feel it. Her head pounded dully and her surroundings swirled. Voices and sounds filled her ears. 

 

_...good... _

A whistle. 

 

_...off track…. to talk to you….  _

Wind. 

 

_...excuse me?… _

 

Water dripping.

 

_ … rewind..… _

 

An opening car door.

_...fuck you!!… _

 

Firecrackers. 

 

The world around her straightened out, trees returning to straight trunked masses instead of twisted, horror movie branches, the setting sun changing back into it’s yellow-orange shades. She put her hand against her head and looked around, swallowing the sadness from the muffled quotes and emotional voices that always haunted her when she went back. 

 

Chloe had just shouted and was heading to the truck. She casted a glance at Max, a concerned expression flashing across her features, but she didn’t stop. Had she done that the first time? Max couldn’t remember. Her mind was still too scrambled from the aftershock of her first rewind in weeks. 

She held back a whine as Chloe got into the car, realizing she’d have to pick up all the pictures again. She didn’t even want to bend down, her head was pounding enough, already. 

 

The punk sped off, polaroids flying about. Max made no effort to move for them. She was too distracted by the liquid creeping its way from her nose to her lip. She swiped her fingers across her philtrum and looked at them- yup, her favorite side effect had returned.  _ Nose bleeds _ . 

 

She wiped her lip with her free hand, though she knew it was no use (it would just keep bleeding until it wanted to stop), and turned around to watch the polaroids flutter away. The wind had picked up seconds before, so they’d probably fall faster than they had before. At least she still had the best one in her hand- that would be enough, she guessed. 

 

Max didn’t see the photographs flying toward the water, though. Instead, she saw them riding the wind back toward her. They settled into a neat pile at her feet, breeze settling. Again. She picked them up and shoved them into her bag, turning to face Sera, who was smiling smugly. 

 

“What?” Max raised her eyebrows.

 

“Bleeding hasn’t gotten better since the first time, hm? I was concerned you wouldn’t be able to rewind, honestly. But my worries have been cast into the dust.”

“You remember?” Max sputtered.

 

“The rewind? Of course I do. I watched it happen. Work on the focusing aspect- it’ll make it go quicker and it’ll hurt less when you get out of it.”

 

“Can you…?”

 

Sera lost her smile. “No, not at all. I just have experience with your kind.”

 

_My kind?_ _The hell does that mean?_

 

“But I can do something,” the woman continued. “ As demonstrated.”

 

Max’s eyes widened. “Demonstrated? What do you mean?” She thought back to the pictures and nodded slowly. “Telepathy.”

 

The woman snorted with little humor. “Not telepathy.” Max felt the heat rising to her cheeks again. “But something along those lines.”

 

“So you have a power?”

 

“I suppose you could say that.”

 

Max narrowed her eyes. “Well, then, what are you?”

 

Sera shrugged. “What are  _ you _ ?” Max just stared at her. She sighed and spoke again. “I don’t know. I don’t have a name, I mean. Just like you don’t have a name. Not a classification, a group, a class. You just are. I just am. That’s how it goes.” Max thought for a moment. She ended up just nodding. She’d think about it later.

 

Sera rolled her eyes. “ This isn’t why I came, once again.”

 

Max sighed, exasperated. “Then why the hell are you here? Just get it over with. What’s so important?” Max wiped her nose, again. The blood was damp, but it had stopped flowing. Which was good.

 

“I came to warn you.”

 

Max perked up again. “Warn me?? Of what?”

Seran frowned. “ That’s the issue. I’m not entirely sure.”

 

She laughed, sarcastically. “You’re not  _ sure _ ? What the hell do you mean, ‘you’re not sure?’”

 

“Don’t mock me. I did not come here to be mocked by a teenager. This is bigger than you. I came to warn you and tell you to leave Washington.”

 

“My parents live here, Sera. I can’t just get them to come with us randomly. Especially without a rea--”

“You weren’t supposed to take them, Maxine. You and Chloe need to leave. You and Chloe need to not come back, no matter what you see or hear, until I tell you it is safe. This could kill you. And I can feel it.”

 

The brunette began to feel the extent of Sera’s concern. She was serious. And if this was as deadly as she was making it seem.. maybe they  _ did _ need to go. Soon. 

 

“I’m.. confused…” Max’s voice was shaking. 

 

A familiar engine was heard in the distance as Sera spoke quickly. “She’s coming back. She won’t be happy with you if she found out you were speaking with me.” She pulled a ripped piece of paper and pen out of her pocket and scribbled something down, shoving it into Max’s hand, hastily. “ My temporary number,” she explained. “ You don’t have to call me, but if you both want to hear the full story, call at midnight on Wednesday. If you miss the deadline, you’re not going to get back in contact with me.” Chloe’s truck came closer. “Get out of Washington, Maxine. Keep Chloe safe. I’ll be here.”

 

“Here?”

 

Sera backed up toward her Toyota. “Everywhere. Be careful.” 

 

A tree rustled loudly in the distance. Max wheeled around to look at the source of the starling noise, but saw nothing. When she turned back toward Sera, mere seconds later, she was gone. 

Max took a step forward. “Sera?” She spun in a circle. Sera had pretty much disappeared. Even her tire tracks seemed to be missing. 

 

The pickup pulled up to the side of the road. Chloe opened the door and yelled over the music that blasted through the speakers. “Get in, Freckles!”

  
Max hopped in and closed the door. Chloe turned the radio down a bit. As they drove off, she stared at the place Sera’s car had just been. Moments ago she was being warned of death. And now all that’s left of the woman who warned her was an extinguished cigarette butt. She fell asleep with her head against the window as _“Smells Like Teen Spirit”_ played dully in the background. She dreamt of Chloe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the support on the last chapter. hope you all are alright with this one-- that it meets ur expectations.   
> (and thanks, Dan, for the editing tips. <3)


	3. Chapter 3

Some time in the night, Max’s eyes fluttered open. The first thing she noticed was the music. She knew exactly what song it was- she’d had it on every single one of her playlists. “Meteor Shower”, by Cavetown. Definitely a mood change from what she’d fallen asleep to. Max saw her phone plugged into the new radio her father insisted on installing once they’d arrived, and wondered if Chloe had decided to play one of her playlists- the punk didn’t typically listen to this genre. 

The second thing she’d noticed was the shattered phone on the driver’s seat. It’s screen was cracked into millions of small pieces- she was amazed that even some of the glass was intact. The corner was chipped, as if it’d been dropped. Or thrown. At high speeds. 

And the third thing she noticed, most heartbreaking of all, was that if the phone was on the seat, that meant Chloe wasn’t. Max released her seatbelt and craned her neck, observing her surroundings. All she saw was a yellowing concrete wall, and some dim light fixtures. 

Looks like we’re gonna have to go out on foot. She opened the door, wincing as it creaked. The loud sound seemed so out of place in the silence around her. The ground made a grainy noise as she hopped onto it- gravel. Max took another look at the area and sighed. She had no idea where the hell she was. 

The door was still open as she walked to the other side of the truck, and there were no intentions of closing it. What?? If she had to escape, she had to get into the truck somehow. And it gave her a false sense of security. Her sense of security wouldn’t be so false, however, if she could just find her Chloe.

She stopped, midstep. She had no idea where the fuck she was supposed to go. She’d just woken up here, no warning whatsoever. And she sure as hell didn’t recognize this place. 

Ukulele could be clearly heard from the truck, giving the situation an eerie sense of serenity. Out of the blue, the wind blew strongly. A whiff of cigarette smoke swept through the breeze and past her face, toward the end of the wall. Max pulled on the hem of her shirt as she took a cautious step forward, toward where the smoke came from. 

The closer she got, the sadder she felt. And it wasn’t just because of the sorrow that  
seemed to coast through the air and through her nose when she breathed, but because with every step, her punk’s sniffles grew louder. 

Max rounded the corner, cautiously. “Chloe?”

Chloe jumped up, glancing at the direction of the voice before looking away in a failed attempt to hide her broken expression. “Go back to the car, Max.”

She didn’t. “Chloe, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying, okay? I’m fine. I just needed some air, now would you go, please?”

Max shook her head. “No.” She walked closer and sat on the ground next to the other teen. “Please. Tell me what’s wrong.” She blindly searched for Chloe’s hand with hers, taking it and squeezing it lightly. 

Chloe yanked her arm away. She dropped her head in her hands. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be.. mean.”

Max shook her head and wrapped her arms around Chloe’s shoulders. “Don’t be sorry. Just tell me what’s bugging you. I want to help.”

Blue hair was swept back with a shaking, pale hand, fingernails decorated with chipping black polish. “I miss her.”

Max’s chest tinged with… some emotion. “Rachel?” Just the single name itself seemed to result in a wince. Then a nod. Max thought long and hard about what to say. She’d never known how to.. help with the whole Rachel thing. It’d been one of her greatest weaknesses. 

Chloe broke the silence. “Still confused about Sera?”

Max struggled to hide a sigh of relief-- maybe she was finally going to find out what the hell that woman had to do with Chloe’s friend of the past. “A little bit.”

Chloe adjusted her position and rested her head on the Max’s shoulder. “She’s Rachel’s mother.”

“What? No way.” Disbelief. 

A nod. “Yes, way. She was… well, she and James were together. Sera got into some bad stuff, James didn’t think-- James knew he couldn’t expose Rachel to it. And so he ended it all with Sera and paid her monthly to stay away.”

“Did she know about Sera being her mom?” A raised eyebrow.

“Rachel?” Chloe took a deep breath before speaking. “No. Not until months before she went missing. Only a little bit after we’d met, too. James wasn’t even going to tell her until she found out about them kissing, herself.” Max silently choked-- kissing?? What an awful way to find something like that out, your father kissing a complete stranger. She decided it was probably best not to pry for information in that aspect- she could tell Chloe was already seething, atop of the other emotions she must’ve been feeling. 

She, instead of prying, spoke softly. “That’s.. Awful.”

Chloe nodded. “Frank was familiar with her, so we tried to get in contact with her through him.”

“Did it work? Is that how you guys ended up meeting?”

‘Brief’ was definitely not the word for the silence that consumed the punk. “No. No, it’s not. We went to Frank for information and he.. well, he brought a friend.” She spoke that dreadful name through clenched teeth. “Damon Merrick. This guy? He was even bigger in the game of illegal things than Frank. From what I’ve heard, he used to help run a puppy mill in that old burnt down mill near the trail.” 

Max gasped. “A puppy mill? How did they not find that out?” By ‘they’, she had meant the police, and she hoped Chloe had picked up on that. 

Chloe had, and she shook her head. “No clue. Pretty sure that’s we’re Pompidou came from, too… anyways, Damon realized Rachel was the District Attorney’s daughter. Apparently, he and James had major beef. It all happened.. really fast…”

Max rested her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to, Chlo.”

“No, no, I want to. It’s just-- no, I got it. Erm.. so, a fight broke out. Damon tried to.. attack me, I guess. And Rachel,” Chloe took a moment to snort, “Rachel hit him with a two-by-four.”

The brunette erupted into a short fit of giggles. “A two-by-four? No shit?”

Chloe allowed a laugh. “Seriously. No shit.” Her face fell. There was a long silence. “And then Damon Merrick stabbed her.”

Max’s smile dropped farther than the deepest altitude in the Grand Canyon. “Stabbed?”

“Stabbed. No shit.” Chloe had tried to make the statement lighthearted, but honestly… is there a way to make things like that seem a little bit gentler? A way to take away the sting, the burn, the sour that pushed it’s way through her system whenever she thought about the knife being pushed through skin. She spoke through clenched teeth to will the tears back, trying not to remember the scene in vivid detail. She failed. “Fuck, she almost died. If I was even a few… seconds later, she would’ve died. Because she felt obligated to save my ass.” Max’s hand reached out to cover hers, though the bluenette jerked away. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise, Max. I came to terms with this months ago.” 

Chloe sighed and continued to speak. “The point in my telling you this; while Rachel was recovering, she asked me to find her mother for her. She needed me to find her mother for her, though James’d told us to ‘leave the matter alone’.” Internally, she was content with how realistic her impression of James’ shitty voice sounded. Shitty was the only way to describe it, too. The definition of ‘shitty’ in the dictionary could honestly be ‘James’ voice’ now that she thought about it. And the other way around. Shitty was a top notch word when it came to the D.A.’s voice, because all it ever spoke was lies. Fibs. Bullshit. 

“Price?” Max’s voice shook Chloe away from her internal James Amber shrieks. 

“Only two dollars for you, my love,” she replied elegantly. Max was puzzled. “ Get it? ‘Price’? ‘Two dollars’? No?”

The freckled girl brought her hand to her forehead and snorted. “No, Chloe. No puns. They’re horrible.”

Chloe grinned a cheeky grin, hoping it would distract the both of them from the serious matter at hand. “They’re perfection. I would know-- I’m the Pun Master.”

Max shook her head with, yet again, another snort. “Alrighty, Mighty Pun Master.” Her face softened. “You’ve still got some explaining to do.”

Chloe sighed. “Right. Hnnghhh, where were we?”

“Rachel needed you to find her mother, against James’ advise.” 

“Hnnnnnghhhh, fine.” She shifted, as if trying to get comfortable. “ I entered the Ambers’ house--”

“Entered? Or broke into?”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed. “Entered.” Then her eyebrows wiggled. “Rachel gave me the security code.”

Max chuckled. “Continue.”

“I had to look around for any info on Sera. While I was there, I found out James... wasn’t as good as a guy as he played off to be. I found the phone he was using to talk to Damon, accused some guy of ratting out Merrick himself, all of that. I also burned some crime scene evidence, which isn’t exactly legal, but Elliot came in and--”

“Who’s Elliot??”

Chloe shivered. “A creep.” Max’s head tilted, but she didn’t press further. “I ended up getting the police to the place before he could do anything dumb and before I could get caught.” With each word, the punk’s face fell more and more. The pressure of her emotions and thoughts on the situation could practically be felt in the air, thick and heavy and not at all enjoyable. 

Max inched closer and pulled Chloe’s head down to rest on her shoulder, carefully. “Are you alright?”

Chloe ignored the question. “Damon was holding Sera at the mill. Had her tied up and everything. He was gonna… he was going to overdose her, I think. Or ruin her clean streak. But I came in with the money he wanted beforehand.” She shook her head against Max’s sweater, inhaling deeply. “I don’t know why I expected it to work. I really don’t. He ended up beating me. I was on the ground when Frank came in, they started fighting. Damon had kicked my head and I was starting to pass out.” Max winced. Fuck. “Next thing I knew, it was sunlight was coming through the mill. Sera was awake and smoking a cigarette, wasn’t tied up anymore. We had a conversation about Rachel, what I was going to tell her. If I was going to tell her the truth about me finding her mother or lie and say she had left Arcadia.” There was a long pause. “It was so.. real, the entire conversation. Like she was there. The tears on her face, the smell of the smoke, it was all bona fide. But in reality, it was just a situation created by the likes of my own mind. Like the ones with my dad, those ones felt the same way, but those never happened.”

“What?”

Chloe thought for a moment and cursed silently. Fuck. Fuck, fuck. She tried to steer away from the subject of her dad’s old visits. “Bona fide. Real. Genuine. Do you not know what that means?”

Max sat up straighter. “Not that, Chloe. I know what bona fide means. I was asking about the conversations you had with William. Those weren’t real either.”

Chloe’s hands shook. She squeezed them together to steady them. “They were dreams.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “Chloe.”

“Dreams, Maximus. They were dreams. It’s fine.” She placed her palms against the wall and pulled herself up. “I don’t want to talk about that, right now.” 

The brunette was quiet for a moment before standing and nodding. “Fine.”

“To sum everything up, I met Sera at the mill, when Damon hit me. She’s Rachel’s mom. She never reached out to me after we found Rachel and I haven’t seen her until today. That’s why I was so angry. Am so angry. She had fucking months to reach out to me. To see if I was okay, to let me know she was okay. And she never did.”

Max thought for a long moment. Sera had told her to call that number strictly at midnight on Wednesday. That gave her a day to convince Chloe to hear her out. Maybe she should start now? While the topic was just.. floating there, waiting for her to grab?

“Maybe she had her reasons.” Chloe’s eyebrows raised-- she almost seemed offended. “No, seriously. If she truly knows how important Rachel was to you like you said she does, she’s got to have a reason.”

The punk's eyes were narrowed, now. “What are you getting at, Caulfield?” 

Max froze. Did she want to continue? Would it be better to just wait until later? “Nevermind. You’re probably right. I’m being overly optimistic again, aren’t I?” She offered a small laugh. 

Chloe watched her expression closely. “No. Not being overly optimistic. Just being Max.” She sighed and swung her arm around Max’s shoulders. “What time is it? I’m famished.”

Max snorted, pulling Chloe back to the truck. “Maybe you’d be able to check the time yourself if you hadn’t smashed the phone.”

“In my defense… no, you’re right. I don’t have an excuse this time.” She pushed Max to the side, playfully. 

They got into the truck, giggling like middle schoolers. The mood change was simple to understand. After a half an hour of reliving the traumatizing events and broken scenes of their lives they both deserved a little bit of lighthearted distraction. Chloe hadn’t been the only one remembering things- Max had been reminded of that one terrifying week with each trembling sentence she had spoken. 

Chloe shut off the radio and unplugged Max’s phone from the aux. She frowned as she read the time. “It’s two in the morning.”

Max gasped. “Two?? How long have we been here? How long were you out there?” Her hands fluttered to Chloe’s, almost an instinct. 

“I.. I don’t know. It felt like a while.” Chloe rushed to make things seem a little less drastic than they really were. “But I did drive around for two hours. You were asleep and I was emotional and I didn’t wanna wake you up. It was a win-win.”

“That means you must’ve been sitting out there for, like, four hours, Chloe. Are you okay?”

She laughed. “Yes, Max, I’m fine.” It took a lot not to let her voice crack on that last word. She was never honest when she said that word. “We just talked. You know what was wrong. I’m gonna try not to let it get to me tonight, alright?”

Max frowned. “If you need to talk about it, you can. Don’t be scared to--”

Rosy lips met their match and silenced the nervous voice almost immediately. Chloe rested a hand on the side of Max’s neck and breathed in every last inch of the freckled girl she’d fallen in love with. Max squeaked lightly in response, surprised by the sudden gesture but welcoming it all the same, and in that moment, only the two of them existed. Only two teenagers in a dim truck, only the breaths escaping their parted lips, only them. And it felt right, even after the kiss ended and all that was left were the lingering effects of warm fingertips. 

The voice no longer trembled. “Hint received.”

Chloe laughed. “I just wanted to stop you from worrying. I’m okay, Max.” She spoke with truth. Because after that kiss, she was. Maybe not for long, maybe only for mere minutes. But at that moment, in that timeframe, she was okay. 

Max leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Chloe, burying her face into pale skin and blue locks. It took a moment of thinking but she nodded eventually, very slowly, against Chloe’s shoulder. 

And they stayed there, falling into each other, enjoying the company. They didn’t need to have a conversation in order to hear each other. Max clung to Chloe and Chloe squeezed Max but at the same time Chloe held onto Max as if it would save her life because in that instance it felt like it would. They trapped themselves in that embrace until it took away the harsh chill in the air and the blood in their veins grew warm. 

They clutched each other until Max’s stomach began to rumble and Chloe spoke into her hair with a chuckle. “Hungry, Freckles?”

Max grinned sheepishly. “Slightly.”

Chloe shifted her position a bit, shrugging Max away in the process. She whined and wrapped her arms around herself as the punk put the keys in the ignition and started the truck. She didn’t rest her head back onto Chloe’s shoulder until they’d pulled out of the parking lot and were headed down the road. 

Chloe drove them down to a nearby Mcdonald's, Max on her shoulder the entire time, in silence. They just enjoyed each other’s company. That’s what made their relationship so wonderful. They didn’t have to be in constant conversation. They could just sit there together, quietly, and get the same satisfaction because they were existing in the same place at the same time. 

Chloe planted a small kiss on Max’s forehead before hopping out of the truck and walking to the other side. The brunette was already out of the car and swinging her messenger back over her shoulder. They walked inside together, side by side, bantering and doing everything possible to keep quiet as it was nearing three in the morning. 

They stepped inside just as it started to rain, pouring buckets upon buckets of water all in the matter of a minute. After ordering their food- two medium fries, a twenty piece of nuggets, and a large Coca Cola that they’d decided to share with two straws- they’d selected a small booth by the window as their feasting location. 

“I haven’t eaten a Mcdonald’s french fry in a while.” 

Max snorted. “Chlo, we went to Mcdonalds, like, two months ago.”

Chloe took up a mock defensive expression. “Your point? I didn’t order the fries.”

Max pointed a bent french fry in Chloe’s direction, accusingly. “Sure, you didn’t order them, but you stole mine. Remember? You had four whole fries. Four.”

“Gasp! Four, Caulfield, four, and you’re already attempting to assassinate me with a fried potato! I can’t imagine what you’d do if I’d take five, or even six.”

“Assassinate??” Max shook her head. “Not at all. I’m simply advocating for the life of those fries.”

“I beg to differ. You’re planning to eat them, aren’t you?”

“That’s not the same. I’m planning to eat them with care. You plan to scarf them down.”

“How do you know? What, are you a mind reader, too?”

Max grinned a funny smile, turning the fry away from her girlfriend and biting into it. “Nope, I just let you shovel them into your mouth and then rewound.”

“You would never.” Chloe’s eyes narrowed sarcastically.

 

“Try me, bitch.”  
“So help me--”

Chloe never got to finish her lighthearted threat. A terribly loud crunch interrupted, echoing from the street yet still audible through the window. Max’s head whipped around, toward the source of the sound. Trees blocked her vision and she couldn’t see what had happened, though both of the girls knew that there had been an accident. Chloe dropped the nugget she’d been holding and stood. Max hopped up as well, attaching herself to Chloe’s arm as the few customers and workers craned their necks to the window. 

Chloe’s voice was shaking. “W-what was that?”

“I think it was a crash?” Max’s attempt to speak calmly was ruined by everyone else’s murmurs and predictions. 

A few people sat back down, though none continued to eat. Max was saying.. something to Chloe, but it wasn’t registering. The sound of the crunching metal replayed in her mind until small flashes of her father’s accident danced dreadful choreography through her mind. Max’s hand grabbed her wrist and tugged her back down into the booth, but Chloe’s attention was turned only to the window and the rain trailing down the glass. She watched the distance as if she would somehow be able to see through the pines if she looked long enough, though she knew she never would. 

Max continued to speak unheard words to her even after she realized they weren’t registering, gripping Chloe’s hand tightly as her fingers shook. A shape appeared beside the trunk of the farthest tree. Chloe held her breath. She took Max’s hand and pointed to the figure. Max held her breath. It was growing closer, and rather quickly for that matter. The more trees it passed, the more characteristics began to show. It took a few moments for Max to see through the rain and realize it was a person they were watching. 

Max stood and yelled to one of the workers behind the counter. “It’s a person!! Get some towels, or something! They might be hurt!”

An employee nodded and ran out of side, probably to the janitor’s closet. Max turned back to Chloe, who was frozen in her seat and still staring out the window. 

Chloe watched the person grow closer and closer until she realized it was a teenage boy, and until she saw tracks of red, rushing from his forehead in plentiful amounts. She sprung up, suddenly. 

“He’s bleeding,” she said. “Get a first aid kit.” She turned to face the people. “Has someone called 911 yet? Why hasn’t anyone called them yet? You,” she pointed to a middle aged woman with black hair, “call them, and tell them we don’t know how many people are hurt.” She grabbed Max’s hand and rand toward the door. “C’mon!”

Max sped up and ran alongside the other girl. She was alarmed by the sudden change but knew that it wasn’t change at all-- Chloe’d just shoved her emotions back to deal with later. 

They ran out of the entrance and into the pouring rain, chills instantly burrowing through their skin and chewing their bones. They were both soaked in seconds. Chloe and Max jogged toward the boy, arms out and ready to catch him incase he decided to fall upon their arrival. The rain washed away a small amount of blood but it was replenished in mere moments.

He didn’t even attempt to stop hobbling when they approached, never even tried to wipe the blood away. He just spoke in a series of strangled yelps. “I hit her. I-I didn’t mean to hit her, she just… appeared. I didn’t kn-now what to do so I came up here and I left her down there and I-” He choked on his words. “I think she’s d-dead!”

Chloe grabbed the boy’s forearms and held them up, holding him in place. She struggled to find his eyes as he was looking at the ground, blood dripping onto the pavement in maroon splotches. “Who? Hit who?”

He shook his head and wailed. “Rachel, I hit Rachel!”

Chloe dropped his arms and his voice began to register. It sounded eerily familiar with a slight rasp and an entitled tone. Her voice shook violently as Max stepped in front of her with an arm against Chloe’s chest as if protecting her- from what, she was unsure. “R-r-rachel who?”

His head rose slowly as he spoke, blood coating his eyebrow and lashes and dripping over his lips. His teeth were stained red and the blood fell from his chin. “Rachel Amber.”

Chloe released a broken whimper as she took one last look at Nathan Prescott before falling limp and crumbling to the floor, tugging Max down along with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -evil squeal-


End file.
